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Abstract:

In linking mobile devices to facilitate a mobile commerce transaction, a
primary mobile device creates an invitation to link to a mobile commerce
account of the primary mobile device with a mobile commerce payment
system and sends the invitation to a secondary mobile device. The
secondary mobile device receives the invitation from the primary mobile
device and sends an agreement to link to the mobile commerce account to
the primary mobile device. The primary mobile device receives the
agreement from the secondary mobile device and sends credentials for
linking to the mobile commerce account to the secondary mobile device.
The secondary mobile device receives the credentials from the primary
mobile device and acquires information for enabling the link to the
mobile commerce account using the credentials. The secondary mobile
device links to the mobile commerce account using the information.

Claims:

1-8. (canceled)

9. A computer program product for linking mobile devices to facilitate a
mobile commerce transaction, the computer program product comprising: a
computer readable memory device having computer readable program code
embodied therewith, the computer readable program code configured to:
receive an invitation from a primary mobile device to link to a mobile
commerce account of the primary mobile device with a mobile commerce
payment system; in response to receiving the invitation, send an
agreement to link to the mobile commerce account to the primary mobile
device; receive credentials for linking to the mobile commerce account
from the primary mobile device; and acquire information for enabling the
link to the mobile commerce account using the credentials.

10. The computer program product of claim 9, wherein the computer
readable program code is further configured to: link to the mobile
commerce account using the information.

11. The computer program product of claim 9, wherein the link to the
mobile commerce account is configured to be persistent, active for a
predetermined time duration, or active until a predetermined condition is
met.

12. The computer program product of claim 9, wherein the invitation
comprises a message comprising an object containing: an identity of the
primary mobile device or a primary mobile device owner; an identity of
the secondary mobile device or a secondary mobile device owner; and a
duration for which the link to the mobile commerce account is active.

13. The computer program product of claim 9, wherein the computer
readable program code configured to send the agreement to link to the
mobile commerce account to the primary mobile device is further
configured to: receive a confirmation of an acceptance of the invitation
from the secondary mobile device; and in response to receiving the
confirmation, send the credentials to link to the mobile commerce account
to the secondary mobile device.

14. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the credentials
comprise a confirmation key acquired from the mobile commerce payment
system by the primary mobile device.

15. The computer program product of claim 9, wherein the computer
readable program code configured to acquire the information for enabling
the link to the mobile commerce account using the credentials is further
configured to: acquire the information from the mobile commerce payment
system for enabling the link to the mobile commerce account using the
credentials.

16. The computer program product of claim 9, wherein the information for
enabling the link to the mobile commerce account comprises: mobile
commerce account information provided by the mobile commerce payment
system that securely associates the primary mobile device and the
secondary mobile device.

17. A system comprising: a primary mobile device for creating an
invitation to link to a mobile commerce account of the primary mobile
device with a mobile commerce payment system and sending the invitation
to a secondary mobile device; and the secondary mobile device for
receiving the invitation from the primary mobile device and sending an
agreement to link to the mobile commerce account to the primary mobile
device, wherein the primary mobile device receives the agreement from the
secondary mobile device and sends credentials for linking to the mobile
commerce account to the secondary mobile device, wherein the secondary
mobile device receives the credentials from the primary mobile device and
acquire information for enabling the link to the mobile commerce account
using the credentials.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the secondary mobile device further
links to the mobile commerce account using the information.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein the link to the mobile commerce
account is configured by the primary mobile device to be persistent,
active for a predetermined time duration, or active until a predetermine
condition is met.

20. The system of claim 17, wherein the invitation comprises a message
comprising an object containing: an identity of the primary mobile device
or a primary mobile device owner; an identity of the secondary mobile
device or a secondary mobile device owner; and a duration for which the
link to the mobile commerce account is active.

21-24. (canceled)

Description:

BACKGROUND

[0001] Mobile commerce, or "M-Commerce", includes applications and
services that are accessible from Internet-enabled mobile devices. In
particular, M-Commerce provides the ability to use a mobile device to
participate in financial transactions. Some M-Commerce services use the
Near Field Communication (NFC) standard. Two NFC-enabled devices
establish radio communication with each other by touching them together
or bringing them into close proximity. An NFC-enabled mobile device may
include an NFC chip, while another device may include an NFC chip reader.
When the two devices come into close proximity, the NFC chip reader wakes
up the NFC chip on the mobile device and establishes a communication link
between them. Data may then be exchanged between the devices. For
example, a merchant may provide a kiosk with an NFC chip reader. During a
financial transaction, such as the purchase of consumer items, the mobile
device user brings the NFC-enabled mobile device in close proximity to
the kiosk so that the NFC chip reader in the kiosk may establish a
communication link with the mobile device. Data is then exchanged between
the user's mobile device and the kiosk, such as information for
authentication and payment account information. Upon conclusion of the
financial transaction, a paper or electronic receipt may be generated and
provided to the user or the user's mobile device.

[0002] However, unlike a traditional commercial transaction, current
M-Commerce applications do not provide a mobile device the ability to
associate other mobile devices with the same m-commerce account. For
example, it is common practice with traditional physical credit cards for
a primary account owner to authorize additional users to charge to the
same credit card account. This is not possible with current M-Commerce
applications.

SUMMARY

[0003] According to one embodiment of the present invention, a method for
linking mobile devices to facilitate a mobile commerce transaction,
comprises: receiving, by a secondary mobile device, an invitation from a
primary mobile device to link to a mobile commerce account of the primary
mobile device with a mobile commerce payment system; in response to
receiving the invitation, sending, by the secondary mobile device, an
agreement to link to the mobile commerce account to the primary mobile
device; receiving, by the secondary mobile device, credentials for
linking to the mobile commerce account from the primary mobile device;
and acquiring, by the secondary mobile device, information for enabling
the link to the mobile commerce account using the credentials. The
secondary mobile device further links to the mobile commerce account
using the information. The link to the mobile commerce account may be
configured by the primary mobile device to be persistent, active for a
predetermined time duration, or active until a predetermined condition is
met.

[0004] In one aspect of the present invention, the invitation comprises a
message comprising an object containing: an identity of the primary
mobile device or a primary mobile device owner; an identity of the
secondary mobile device or a secondary mobile device owner; and a
duration for which the link to the mobile commerce account is active.

[0005] In one aspect of the present invention, the primary mobile device
receives a confirmation of an acceptance of the invitation from the
secondary mobile device, and in response to receiving the confirmation,
sends the credentials to link to the mobile commerce account to the
secondary mobile device. The credentials may comprise a confirmation key
acquired from the mobile commerce payment system by the primary mobile
device.

[0006] In one aspect of the present invention, the secondary mobile device
acquires the information from the mobile commerce payment system for
enabling the link to the mobile commerce account using the credentials.
The information for enabling the link to the mobile commerce account
comprises mobile commerce account information provided by the mobile
commerce payment system that securely associates the primary mobile
device and the secondary mobile device.

[0007] According to another embodiment of the present invention, a method
for linking mobile devices to facilitate a mobile commerce transaction,
comprises: creating, by a primary mobile device, an invitation to link to
a mobile commerce account of the primary mobile device with a mobile
commerce payment system; sending, by the primary mobile device, the
invitation to a secondary mobile device; receiving, by the primary mobile
device, an agreement to link to the mobile commerce account from the
secondary mobile device; in response to receiving the agreement, sending,
by the primary mobile device, credentials for linking to the mobile
commerce account to the secondary mobile device, wherein the secondary
mobile device acquires information for enabling the link to the mobile
commerce account using the credentials. The secondary mobile device
further links to the mobile commerce account using the information.

[0008] In one aspect of the present invention, the link to the mobile
commerce account is configured by the primary mobile device to be
persistent, active for a predetermined time duration, or active until a
predetermined condition is met.

[0009] In one aspect of the present invention, the invitation comprises a
message comprising an object containing: an identity of the primary
mobile device or a primary mobile device owner; an identity of the
secondary mobile device or a secondary mobile device owner; and a
duration for which the link to the mobile commerce account is active.

[0010] System and computer program products corresponding to the
above-summarized methods are also described and claimed herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

[0011]FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment of a system for linking mobile
devices to facilitate a mobile commerce transaction according to the
present invention.

[0012]FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an embodiment of a method for
linking mobile devices to facilitate an M-commerce transaction according
to the present invention.

[0013]FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating in more detail an embodiment of
the method for linking mobile devices to facilitate a mobile commerce
transaction according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0014] As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, aspects of the
present invention may be embodied as a system, method or computer program
product. Accordingly, aspects of the present invention may take the form
of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment
(including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or an
embodiment combining software and hardware aspects that may all generally
be referred to herein as a "circuit," "module" or "system." Furthermore,
aspects of the present invention may take the form of a computer program
product embodied in one or more computer readable medium(s) having
computer readable program code embodied thereon.

[0015] Any combination of one or more computer readable medium(s) may be
utilized. The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signal
medium or a computer readable storage medium. A computer readable storage
medium may be, for example, but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic,
optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus,
or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific
examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer readable storage medium
would include the following: an electrical connection having one or more
wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory
(RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only
memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc
read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage
device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. In the context of
this document, a computer readable storage medium may be any tangible
medium that can contain, or store a program for use by or in connection
with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

[0016] A computer readable signal medium may include a propagated data
signal with computer readable program code embodied therein, for example,
in baseband or as part of a carrier wave. Such a propagated signal may
take any of a variety of forms, including, but not limited to,
electro-magnetic, optical, or any suitable combination thereof. A
computer readable signal medium may be any computer readable medium that
is not a computer readable storage medium and that can communicate,
propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with an
instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

[0017] Program code embodied on a computer readable medium may be
transmitted using any appropriate medium, including but not limited to
wireless, wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, etc., or any suitable
combination of the foregoing.

[0018] Computer program code for carrying out operations for aspects of
the present invention may be written in any combination of one or more
programming languages, including an object oriented programming language
such as Java® (Java, and all Java-based trademarks and logos are
trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States, other
countries, or both), Smalltalk, C++ or the like and conventional
procedural programming languages, such as the "C" programming language or
similar programming languages. The program code may execute entirely on
the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone
software package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote
computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter
scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer
through any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a
wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external
computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service
Provider).

[0019] Aspects of the present invention are described below with reference
to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus
(systems) and computer program products according to embodiments of the
invention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart
illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the
flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by
computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be
provided to a processor of a general purpose computer special purpose
computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a
machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of
the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create
means for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart
and/or block diagram block or blocks.

[0020] These computer program instructions may also be stored in a
computer readable medium that can direct a computer other programmable
data processing apparatus, or other devices to function in a particular
manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer readable medium
produce an article of manufacture including instructions which implement
the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or
blocks.

[0021] The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a
computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices
to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer,
other programmable apparatus or other devices to produce a computer
implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the
computer or other programmable apparatus provide processes for
implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block
diagram block or blocks.

[0022] The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate the
architecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementations of
systems, methods and computer program products according to various
embodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in the
flowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portion
of code, which comprises one or more executable instructions for
implementing the specified local function(s). It should also be noted
that, in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the
block may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, two
blocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantially
concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse
order, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be noted
that each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and
combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchart
illustration, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-based
systems that perform the specified functions or acts, or combinations of
special purpose hardware and computer instructions.

[0023] The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing
particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the
invention. As used herein, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" are
intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly
indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms
"comprises" and/or "comprising," when used in this specification, specify
the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements,
and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or
more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components,
and/or groups thereof.

[0024] The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents of
all means or step plus function elements in the claims below are intended
to include any structure, material, or act for performing the function in
combination with other claimed elements as specifically claimed. The
description of the present invention has been presented for purposes of
illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or
limited to the invention in the form disclosed. Many modifications and
variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art without
departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. The embodiment was
chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the
invention and the practical application, and to enable others of ordinary
skill in the art to understand the invention for various embodiments with
various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated.

[0025]FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment of a system for linking mobile
devices to facilitate a mobile commerce transaction according to the
present invention. The system comprises a primary mobile device 101 and a
secondary mobile device 110. In this embodiment, both the mobile devices
101 and 111 are NFC-enabled devices, each comprising an NFC chip 104 and
113. The primary mobile device 101 is operationally coupled to a
processor 102 and a computer readable medium 103. The secondary mobile
device 110 is operationally coupled to a processor 111 and a computer
readable medium 112. The computer readable media 103 and 112 of the
devices 101 and 110 store computer readable program codes for
implementing the various embodiments of the present invention, where the
mobile devices 101 and 110 are linked to facilitate M-commerce
transactions using a single M-commerce account. Here, the owner of the
primary mobile device 101 holds an account with the M-commerce payment
system 120. Using the present invention, the primary mobile device 101 is
able to associate one or more secondary mobile devices 110 with the
M-commerce account, such that the primary and secondary mobile device(s)
101 and 110 are able to charge to the same M-commerce account.

[0026]FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an embodiment of a method for
linking mobile devices to facilitate an M-commerce transaction according
to the present invention. The secondary mobile device 110 receives an
invitation from the primary mobile device 101 to link to the primary
mobile device's account with the M-commerce payment system 120 (201). The
invitation from the primary mobile device 101 may be in response to a
request from the secondary mobile device 110 to establish the link, or
the invitation may be initiated at the primary mobile device 101. The
secondary mobile device 110 sends an agreement to link to the M-commerce
account to the primary mobile device 101 (202). In response, the
secondary mobile device 110 receives credentials from the primary mobile
device 101 for the secondary mobile device 110 to link to the primary
mobile device's M-commerce account (203). In this embodiment, the
credentials include data that allows the primary and secondary mobile
device 101 and 110 to securely exchange contact information. The
secondary mobile device 110, using the credentials, acquires information
for enabling the link to the M-commerce account (204). The secondary
mobile device 110 may link to the M-commerce account using the
information. In this embodiment, the information includes M-commerce
account information provided by the M-commerce payment system 120 that
securely associates the primary and secondary mobile devices 101 and 110.

[0027]FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating in more detail an embodiment of
the method for linking mobile devices to facilitate a mobile commerce
transaction according to the present invention. In this embodiment, the
functionality of M-commerce applications are extended to allow the
primary mobile device owner to identify secondary mobile devices that the
owner would like to link to the primary mobile device to establish a
peer-to-peer infrastructure to facilitate purchases using one M-commerce
account. The primary mobile device owner may cause the primary mobile
device 101 to create the invitation by identifying the owner of the
secondary mobile device 110, such as by specifying an actual name for the
user of the secondary primary device 110 or a phone number of the
secondary mobile device 110. The primary mobile device owner may
configure the link to be persistent, temporal, or limited in some other
manner. For example, the link may be configured to be active for a
specified time duration, until a total purchase amount has been charged
to the M-commerce account by the secondary mobile device 110, or when
some other predetermined condition is met. Using these parameters
inputting by the primary mobile device owner, the primary mobile device
101 creates and sends the invitation to the secondary mobile device 110
to link to the M-commerce account of the primary mobile device 101 (301).
The invitation may be in the form of a specialized Short Message Service
(SMS) that includes an embedded object containing information, such as
the name of the user of the primary device 101 and the phone number of
the primary mobile device 101, the name of the user of the secondary
mobile device 110 and the phone number of the secondary mobile device
110, and the duration of the link. Other manners of sending the
invitation may be used, including those that do not require a proximity
link between the primary and second mobile devices 101 and 110, such as
Email, Internet, etc.

[0028] The secondary mobile device 110 receives the invitation from the
primary mobile device 101 (302). The invitation may then be displayed by
the secondary mobile device 110, allowing the secondary mobile device
owner to accept or reject the invitation. In response to receiving an
input to accept the invitation from the secondary mobile device owner,
the secondary mobile device 110 sends a confirmation of acceptance of the
invitation to the primary mobile device 101 (303). The confirmation may
be in the form of another SMS.

[0029] The primary mobile device 101 receives the confirmation of
acceptance of the invitation from the secondary mobile device 110 (304),
and in response, sends credentials to link to the M-commerce account to
the secondary mobile device 110 (305). The confirmation may then be
displayed by the primary mobile device 101, allowing the primary mobile
device 101 to manage currently linked devices. In one embodiment, the
credentials may be in the form of a confirmation key acquired from the
M-commerce payment system 120 by the primary mobile device 101. Any type
of confirmation key may be used. In another embodiment, a verification
mechanism not involving the M-commerce payment system 120 may be used.
For example, when the secondary mobile device 110 attempts to use the
M-commerce account in a transaction, the secondary mobile device 110 may
be required to obtain a confirmation from the primary mobile device
before the transaction may be completed. Optionally, the credentials may
be time dependent and required to be used within a prescribed period of
time before rendered inactive.

[0030] The secondary mobile device 110 receives the credentials to link to
the M-commerce account from the primary mobile device 101 (306). The
secondary mobile device 110 uses the credentials to communicate with the
M-commerce payment system 120 and acquire information from the M-commerce
payment system 120 to enable the link to the M-commerce account of the
primary mobile device 101 (307). Using the information, the secondary
mobile device 110 links to the M-commerce account of the primary mobile
device 101 (308). Per the configuration by the primary mobile device
owner, as explained above, the link may be limited temporally, by total
amount of charges, or some other parameter. Once the linking of the
secondary mobile device to the primary mobile device's M-commerce account
is completed, the primary mobile device may receive notification that the
secondary mobile device 110 is linked to the M-commerce account (309).

[0031] When the secondary mobile device 110 attempts to charge to the
M-commerce account, the M-commerce payment system 120 may determine
whether the secondary mobile device 110 is authorized to access the
M-commerce account according to the limitations. Alternatively, this
determination may be made by the secondary mobile device 110 without
requiring involvement of the M-commerce payment system 120. For example,
when the link is configured to be active for a specified time period, the
secondary mobile device 110 may disable the link once the time period
expires. Once the M-commerce transaction is completed by the secondary
mobile device 110, a copy of a receipt of M-commerce transaction may be
made available to the primary mobile device 101, the secondary mobile
device 110, the retailer, and/or the M-commerce payment system 120.

[0032] Others manners of disabling the secondary mobile device's link to
the M-commerce account may be used. For example, when the link is
configured to be persistent by the primary mobile device 101, the primary
mobile device 101 may inform the M-commerce payment system 120 that the
secondary mobile device 110 is no longer linked to the M-commerce
account. The M-commerce payment system 120 may then block further access
to the M-commerce account by the secondary mobile device 110.
Alternatively, current applications to disable mobile devices, or to
erase data on the mobile devices, may be extended to also disable the
link on the secondary mobile device 110.

[0033] In the above described manner, the primary mobile device 101 may
link a secondary mobile device 110 to the same M-commerce account without
needing to send actual account information to the secondary mobile device
110. The secondary mobile device 110 may be allowed to charge to the
M-commerce account without having access to the M-commerce account
information itself.

[0034] The descriptions of the various embodiments of the present
invention has been presented for purposes of illustration, but are not
intended to be exhaustive or limited to the embodiments disclosed. Many
modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill
in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the described
embodiments. The terminology used herein was chosen to best explain the
principles of the embodiments, the practical application or technical
improvement over technologies found in the marketplace, or to enable
others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the embodiments
disclosed herein.